BLISS, CANNABIS AND THE LAW

It's the chemistry behind a certain kind of joy, but a contraband in law - cannabis in India is an experience of paradox. Karan Madhok's Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India, discusses the history, science, and culture of this controversial plant.

- PANKIL JHAJHRIA

IN 1992, Israeli chemist Raphael Mecholulam discovered a neurotransmitter in the brain.

He named it 'anandamide', the Sanskrit word for bliss. Its chemical cousin? Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Anandamide (ANA) inspired the title for writer Karan Madhok's new book Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India (Aleph).

When Karan was approached by Aleph to write a book on cannabis, he agreed despite the stigma surrounding the topic, forced by a desire to understand it better. "Cannabis is something that a lot of us have an idea of, but we're not 100 percent sure what it actually means, what is legal, what is not. Everyone in India knows about it, but nobody really knows the details because no one talks about it openly," he says.

The research and writing process took around two years, during which Karan travelled across several states including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Kerala, as well as the cities of Delhi and Mumbai. These details came up in the book discussion held at India International Centre (IIC), in Delhi. The panel, moderated by independent journalist Amritesh Mukherjee, included discussants, Omair Ahmad, novelist and journalist; Dr Khagesh Gautam, professor at Jindal Global Law School; Tripti Tandon, lawyer and drug policy analyst; and Karan himself.

The criminal code

The book reads, "As an activity closely tied to Indian spirituality, British missionaries in India also disapproved of the use of cannabis." This was followed by a 3,000-page report on the study of cannabis. On the basis of it, moderate amounts of hemp consumption was declared harmless.